Corporate travel agents based in New Zealand and Australia (outside Brisbane) are able to apply now for hosted buyer status at Convene Queensland (Convene Q).

Qualified buyers at Convene Q in July will also have the opportunity to sign up for a Sunshine Coast famil that allows them to see and experience one of Australia’s most spectacular regions. Ally Eastaugh, managing director for Convene Group says that while the Convene portfolio of events are known for their appeal to conference, meeting, incentive and function organisers they also have relevance for travel management companies and other business travel bookers.

A wide range of exhibitors target organisers of executive meetings and corporate retreats while many hotels on show will have restaurants, bars and other areas ideal for one on one meetings during business trips. Convene Q itself is at Brisbane Conventions and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday 24 July. CLICK HERE to register

Agents who attended the Queensland on Tour event at Villa Maria Winery, Auckland late last week have come away with plenty of new ideas on how to sell the state. From brand new apartments in the form of The Ruby Collection at Surfer’s Paradise, to the Trolls Village opening at Dreamworld in June, refurbishments at Cairns Colonial Resort and sister property Palm Royale, and a splash of reptile colour at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures there was plenty to be updated on.

Craig Undery, regional sales manager – western, with Dreamworld, says the Trolls Village, based on a family movie from Dreamworks Animation met with plenty of interest from Kiwi agents. It opens in time for the New Zealand school holidays. Later in the year, the theme park is introducing i-Ride, which has similar technology to Disney’s Soarin’ attraction (familiar to many agents here) but with a total emphasis on Australian landscapes and cities. Angie Helmreich, of con-X-ion, was promoting the company’s ‘flight guarantee’. If someone misses a flight due to the fault of con-X-ion they will be put on the next available flight by the transport provider – and they will be flying business class.

Helmreich also emphasised con-X-ion’s combo passes to the theme parks from Gold Coast hotels – three days return transport, door to door, for A$59. Venetia van Staveren, sales and marketing executive with Wildlife Tropical North Queensland was pushing the new Gallery of Living Art at Hartley’s. The massive collection of exotic and Australian reptiles includes some of the largest snakes in captivity in the country and is also adjacent to the relatively new Komodo Dragon enclosure.

They cover cricket and an array of football codes while also combining the old and new (the SCG actually dates back to 1876).

Richmond says the tours received a strong response from the international market, including New Zealanders.

‘We already see New Zealanders on the tours but we’d like to expand that through the trade.'

Features of the tour include visiting the Australian and away team’s changing rooms, the walk of honour, and emerging through the players tunnel on to the grounds at Allianz.

Group and special tour organisers can also access merchandise through the SCG to be presented to clients on arrival and can also formulate bespoke experiences (like a happy birthday message on one of the massive stadium screens).

The concept has been so successful that it is likely to expand with a cultural experiences offering soon and, a bit further down the track, a collective promoting superyachts.

This comes after Discover Aboriginal Experiences was launched in January this year, and Australian Wildlife a year ago.

They join Great Walks of Australia, Great Golf Courses, Luxury Lodges of Australia, Great Fishing Adventures, and Ultimate Winery Experiences.

ATE attracted more than 600 travel buyers from over 20 countries and 540 Australian seller companies, including 77 first-timers.

David Ridgeway, Minister of Tourism for South Australia, says ATE was last held in the state in 2010.

‘It couldn’t have come at a better time with the infrastructure developments along with great food and wine, coastal experiences and futuristic landscapes.’

South Australian suppliers embraced the event, with a record 65 of them exhibiting at ATE this year.

Rodney Harrex, chief executive of the South Australian Tourism Commission, says New Zealand is a market that fits in well with goals of repeat visitation and dispersal.‘Air New Zealand now flying the Dreamliner into Adelaide from Auckland further adds to the accessibility.

And once Kiwi are here it’s just a 25 minute drive to the Adelaide Continued from page 1 New experience collectives: more to sell in Aussie Hills and easy to reach our wine regions. We have 200 cellar doors within one and a half hour’s drive from Adelaide.

This year’s Gold Coast Mega Famil saw a Kiwi travel trade group of 27 discovering local product and spots like the hinterland that they didn’t even know existed.

‘I was expecting surf culture, gym junkies, health drink shops and the beach. But it’s so much more than that. The hinterland is a huge aspect that isn’t really considered, especially when people are booking their trips, they

just look at the coast,’ says Chris Kraal, Flight Centre Kerikeri.

‘Getting out to Mt Tamborine and doing the zip lining was absolutely incredible. It’s been quite a life-changing experience to be honest, which I didn’t think it would be. It’s broadened my horizons, and will absolutely change the way I sell the destination.’

Over five days, the 27-strong group got a taste of both ends of the coast, staying at Oaks Calypso Plaza in Coolangatta, and the recently opened Avani in Broadbeach.

‘The different neighbourhoods and beach precincts that all have their own different identity and showing the depth that the city now has.’

Thurston says what really showcases that depth is the unexpected, live-like-a-local moments that are there for the taking.

‘For instance, the funky street food and live music venue Miami Marketta that was developed by a group of artists trying to find a space to work from. They rented it out, and to fund the arts they were making they then created the Marketta, which has now become a local institution,’ he says.

‘There’s a lot of innovation going on and it’s a really exciting time on the Gold Coast.’

Running until 8 April 2018, the tours allow passengers to sit below the water line in an enclosed vessel and experience views of Rottnest Island’s reef systems, see real shipwrecks and learn about the island’s maritime history from a marine biologist.

Dreamworld will be home to the Southern Hemisphere’s first flying theatre in a partnership between parent company Ardent Leisure and simulation company, Brogent Technologies Inc.

The Gold Coast theme park is set to launch an Australian-themed i-Ride flying theatre in late 2018.

It will be housed in Dreamworld’s former I-MAX Theatre located just inside the entrance to the park.

The i-Ride flying theatre will be a 40-seat ride simulator, suspending riders in 10-seat gondolas over a hemispherical screen while they heave, sway, surge and roll as they are taken on an immersive journey of the Australian landscape.

The riders will experience special effects such as wind, sound, light, mist and scents as they are soaring through the air.

Already established in Sydney, Veriu is expanding interstate with the acquisition of 13 hotels under the Punthill Apartment Hotel brand.

The hotels will join the group this month and continue to operate under the Punthill brand.

The 13-strong portfolio includes eight suburban and four CBD apartment hotels in Melbourne plus one in Brisbane, offering 777 apartments in total across the group.

Veriu director Alex Thorpe says there is great synergy between the two brands.

‘The Punthill founders started on a similar journey to ours some 30 years ago. Their entrepreneurial spirit and hard work have created an incredible portfolio of hotels with a talented team of passionate people,’ he says.

Veriu directors Thorpe and Rhys Williams say they will consider rebranding certain hotels under the Veriu brand in the next six to 12 months.